Stay With Me
by nocturnaldelinquent
Summary: One year after his defeat in Burgress, Pitch finds himself in the last place he wants to be. However, he finds it isn't so bad being fussed over by a certain fairy. Tooth is curious to know what happened in the year he was missing, so offers to care for him whilst she unpicks the mystery. Suckish summary & story/ToothxPitch/Rated M for later chapters/May not go in order.


**A/N: This was going to be a one-shot, but I plan to make a few more chapters if the feedback is good. Enjoy. **

He was sulking.

He had been sulking in his new room for nearly an hour, although he probably would not call it sulking – more like contemplating life.

He did not want to be here, the mere thought of what was outside his bedroom door set the Boogeyman's teeth on edge. He never asked for their help, so why did they bother? Why would they even think about helping him, their worst enemy? He ran his slender fingers through his black locks, letting out a loud frustrated sigh as he paced back and forth the room.

''Bloody, stupid, arrogant little bastards. Who do they think they are?'' He muttered, sourly, finally coming to a halt and perching on the edge of his bed, biting his lip and then wincing when he bit the cut there. He scowled distastefully, all these bruises and cuts made him look weak. If he was in power he could conceal them easily, but they stood out like a rash now he was powerless. He hadn't discovered all the injuries on his body yet, some hurt and some didn't.

He was sadly aware of the particular large one that could be seen on the side of his neck and shoulder, absently running a finger over it as if his mere touch could make it disappear, but no such luck. There was no hiding his injuries or his bloodshot, sunken eyes this time, he would have to be patient in order for them to heal naturally.

He was a spirit, which meant he should heal faster than humans. Hopefully.

He tried to pull his robe more up his shoulders anyway, to try and hide the larger one, but it didn't really help that much.

A gentle rapping against the oak door of his little room could be heard, and Pitch scowled, hearing the fluttering wings on the other side.

''Go away, Toothiana. I do not wish to speak to you or any of your freaky friends.'' He spat hatefully, which was met by a – rather pissed off – groan from the other side of the door.

''Pitch! You can't stay in there forever!'' The fairy yelled through the door, but he continued to remain stubborn.

''I can try.'' He almost sung, praying to the Gods that she would just flutter off and leave him in peace. True, she was the only one out of the five that he could actually stand to a certain degree (unless you count Sandman – but it's literally impossible to have a decent conversation with him), and it was a waste of time trying to talk to the others anyway. It was clear they were trying to be kind and understanding, given his current condition, but no matter how hard they tried, their loathing for him would still shine through past their fake smiles.

Tooth, however, was a different story completely. No hate or bad thoughts against him seemed to show, and she treated him as if he were an old friend. It was odd, considering he'd tried to destroy her less than a year ago. Some things may have changed since then, but he was still the same monster he was a year ago. He wished he wasn't, but he could not change the past.

_Unless I had an encounter with Father Time_ he mused.

''Pitch, please let me in.'' Tooth begged.

No response.

''I'm not leaving until you open this door!''

''Then you are going to be there a while, my dear.'' He said, dryly, which was followed by yet another groan from outside the door. ''Tooth, please, just leave me alone.''

''Why? So you can sulk for another hour?'' She muttered, sarcastically, and Pitch snarled defensively.

''I am not sulking!''

''Then open the door!'' She groaned, and there was a sudden lull of silence from inside the room, followed by footsteps, and then the sound of the door unlocking and thusly opening. Golden eyes watched the colourful fairy as a warm, satisfied smile came across her lips, which lit up her entire face.

''Thank y-''

''What do you want.'' Pitch mumbled, his expression vacant and bored. She rolled her eyes, shoving past him and going into his room. Pitch winced, but she didn't seem to notice.

''Honestly, why don't you try smiling once in a while? Moon, its dark in here.'' She babbled, looking over at him. ''You know why I'm here, we've got questions that need answering.''

''Why don't you lot just keep your noses out of other people's business for once?'' He growled, shutting the door once again and sitting back down on his bed. ''And for your information, I do smile, sometimes.''

''And all the rest of the time, you sulk?'' She smirked, and his eyes narrowed again, going to protest before she cut him off again. ''Oh shush, you know I'm right.''

''What exactly is the point in all of this?'' He knew the answer, of course, he just wanted to change the subject before she tried to outsmart him again. This was all a big fuss over nothing, which was none of the 'Guardian's' concern, or business. It was his, and his alone. And he would be damned before he allowed himself to open up to any of them, even Tooth. Her smirk faded and became a frown,

''You know perfectly well, Pitch. We need to know what happened to you.''

''You defeated me, what more is there to know?'' He deadpanned, and Tooth growled lowly.

''After that. When you were dragged back into your lair, what happened down there?'' She asked, as softly as she could manage, and was met by silence and a blank stare. ''Just tell me.''

''Why would I want to do that?'' He snarled, standing up again, trying to look menacing – it was a poor attempt due to his current state, but it made her flinch nonetheless. ''I did not ask for help, I was perfectly fine down there until you and those freaks came along and-''

''Fine?!'' Tooth squeaked, ''you were almost dead! In fact, I'm pretty sure you would be dead if it weren't for us!'' Pitch set his jaw, paling a little, all this standing and shouting was making his dizziness return.

''Why won't you admit that you need help?'' She asked softly, having noticed his change in colour, and trying to calm things down again.

''What? You're telling me you would not do the same if you were powerless in front of your enemies?''

''We're not your enemies.''

Pitch scoffed.

''You can be as stubborn as you want, I'm not leaving until you talk to me.'' She paused, ''or, sit down at least, you look as if you're about to pass out.'' She looked him over worriedly, his skin was almost white and his eyes were glassy, the black and purple bruises on his body standing out even more against his pale skin. He would have argued, but he knew she was right, and so reluctantly sat back down on the bed again, but honestly the movement only made his nausea stronger.

''Thank you.'' She breathed, at least if he passed out she wouldn't have to drag him onto the bed herself. He didn't look like he weighed that much, but he still quite tall and strong, and she was smaller than him and didn't really have that much muscle. ''Now, can you tell me what happened? Please?'' Pitch let out a groan, frowning again in annoyance.

''Just tell me. Then I'll… Look at your injuries and then I'll leave you alone for the rest of the day.''

''They're really not that bad.'' He protested, but Tooth's glare made him shut up again. ''Alright, fine.''

''Good.'' She mumbled, relieved, before sitting herself down in one of the armchairs in the corner. Pitch remained silent though, continuing to stare at her with that gaze that made her really uncomfortable, making her shuffle slightly in her seat.

''It was one dark, cold night in Burgess,'' Pitch drawled, Tooth rolled her eyes.

''Pitch…'' She groaned, ''Just get to it.''

He scoffed again, ''after you defeated me, my Nightmare's turned on me. I was able to control them as well as I did because I guaranteed the Nightmares and Fearlings unlimited fear from all over the globe if they helped me. So, naturally, when that backfired they decided they would get what they wanted from me instead. They dragged me back into my lair, and took all the fear possible to acquire from one man.''

''How much is that?'' Tooth inquired, not wanting to interrupt, but wanting to know if this was as bad as it sounded.

''Beat a man within an inch of his life several times and you will find out.'' He said, with such loathing that it sent shivers up her spine, and she shut up again. ''They left me after a few hours, and I could not even move. I'm not sure how long I was there, but they came back again. Every night they returned to repeat the process. I don't even remember half of it.

''Sometimes, they would show this awful image to me, of this little girl, repeatedly being murdered. I didn't know who she was, but something about her was so… familiar. I tried to help her, even though I knew she wasn't really there, but I failed. Her screams were horrific, and she kept calling out for her father, begging for him to save her, but no one came.'' He paused again, and though it would have gone unnoticed by anyone else, Tooth saw him wince as if the image physically hurt to think about.

''That continued every night for… Well, I don't know how long. It wasn't until you came for me last week that it stopped.'' He paused for a moment and looked up at her, his face twisted as if he wanted to say something that he really didn't want to say. ''Thank you, for that.'' He finally added, exhaling a deep breath as if a huge weight had just been lifted from his shoulders.

Tooth smiled sadly and acknowledged him with a small nod, ''that's quite alright. I'm sorry you had to go through that. We never even thought, we should have gone after you.''

''You did what you thought was right, and I deserved the punishment I suppose.'' He mumbled, not liking admitting he had been wrong. Tooth shook her head,

''No, you didn't deserve that. No one does.'' She sighed quietly, before slowly rising to her feet again and taking a few cautious steps closer. ''May I look at your injuries now, please?'' He looked at her solemnly, considering, then nodded once without saying a word.

She edged her way closer, and – with an apologetic glance – pushed his robe from his shoulders, from where he slid his arms out of the sleeves and let it drape around his hips, revealing his slim yet muscled form underneath. She bit her lip as soon as he removed the robe, not just because his body could be considered rather attractive, but mainly because of the damage it seemed to have gone through.

His body was covered in dark, angry looking bruises, scratches, cuts – even bite marks in some places. There was a particular nasty gash across his abdomen which looked incredibly painful, and would need to be cleaned and bandaged in order to prevent infection, and yet he sat still without showing any signs of discomfort, clearly trying not to look weak in front of her. She had a feeling that if she wasn't in the room, he would look like a completely different person. A weak and broken being in need of help he was too proud to ask for.

She circled him a little, finding the huge dark bruise that covered his shoulder and some of his neck, and winced at the sight of it. Pitch saw that.

''It doesn't hurt anymore,'' He reassured, _it hurts more on the inside _he added inside his head, but doesn't say it directly to her, admitting pain – especially mental pain – is one of the biggest signs of weakness. He refused to believe he was weak, and would not let her believe that either. She looked at him and nodded.

''Well, I'm going to need to bandage the one of your abdomen. I can soothe the rest, but they'll have to heal naturally.'' She frowned, wishing she could do more, Pitch glanced at her and for a moment considered reassuring her that she had done enough, but shook it off and replied with just a nod. ''I'll be right back.''

…

She darted down the corridor of the Workshop, zooming past a few Yeti's and elves as she went, before she found the room just beside the Globe lounge where all North's medical supplies were kept. It wasn't an awfully big room, but it had everything she needed, and could possibly ever need when dealing with injuries. North didn't mess around, he was always ready to help someone when they needed it.

She quickly grabbed a roll of bandages, a cloth, some cleansing fluid for open wounds and then a bowl which she could fill with water to rinse the cloth with. Gathering her things, she left the room and shut the door behind her, heading back for Pitch's room at a slower pace now so she would not drop her things. She did her best to avoid being seen by any of the other Guardians, for now. She'd been told to leave Pitch to rest and calm down for today at least, until he was comfortable enough and had regained enough strength to talk to them. Tooth had been too worried to leave him be, and was intrigued to know what had happened to him. Damn her curiosity.

She wasn't quite sure why she was worried for him exactly, but seeing him so helpless and afraid, lying almost dead at the bottom of a dark hole had made her panic, panic that he was dead and there was nothing they could do. She remembered how much relief she had felt when she realised he was still alive, and wasted no time calling the others to get him back to North's workshop. She'd stayed with him the first few days, calming him down when he woke practically screaming and thrashing out in terror, afraid of being attacked.

He slept for an entire four days before he woke, and when he did, he was furious that they had brought him back to one of their safe houses. He wasn't angry because he did not want to be there and didn't appreciate their help, he was angry because they'd put themselves in danger by bringing him there. Jack and Bunny had agreed with him immediately, and had started listing reasons why they should kick him out and send him back to his lair. Tooth, however, did not agree and had managed to get North and Sandy on her side, who were more than willing to let Pitch stay until he had recovered, as long as he co-operated and stuck to the rules, much to Jack and Bunny's annoyance.

Tooth had seen Pitch then, and he looked even more tired than he had today, there was no way he was planning to start a fight or trying to get revenge, he just wanted help. Even though he wouldn't admit it himself. Although he had agreed to the Guardians terms, he was still a stubborn ass about it.

Tooth mused over this as she made her way back to his room, and when she finally got back and went inside, she found he was not there on the bed where she left him. Her eyes widened a little in panic.

''Pitch?'' She called, hoping he was just hiding in the shadows and this was just his idea of a joke. She put her things down onto the bed, and frowned at the darkness. ''Pitch, where are-''

The sound of violent heaving and spluttering coming from the bathroom gave her her answer, and she cringed. Rushing over to the door of the en-suite and stepping inside, she found the man in question hunched over the toilet in the corner, his muscles tense and shaking lightly. Whatever food he'd eaten in the previous days was now being brought up into the toilet, rather intensely at that.

She wasted no time in going to his side and kneeling beside him, absently putting a hand on and rubbing his back soothingly, brushing his hair from his face without even thinking about what she was doing.

''Shh…'' She hushed, ''It's okay, just get it all out.'' She managed to keep her voice at a calming and quiet tone as she knelt beside the heaving Pitch, who proceeded to vomit another two times before he finally slumped and moved away, almost passing out onto the cold tile floor which was soothing as hell against his burning and aching skin. He let out a low groan, holding his head and avoiding her gaze, clearly embarrassed. His face was flushed bright red, but mainly because of the vomiting rather than the embarrassment.

''S-Sorry…'' He muttered, though it was barely audible, and his voice was rough from being sick. Tooth's eyes widened and she quickly shook her head,

''Hey! Don't be silly, it's alright.'' She reassured, going to his side and helping him to his feet with great struggle, because he had absolutely no energy to help him stand up with. ''Come on, let's get you back to bed.''

He managed a small nod in agreement, allowing her to help him back into the bedroom where she lay him down on the bed beside the medical supplies she brought with her. Pitch was about to say thank you again, but Tooth hushed him.

''You just rest for a minute, I'll deal with these.'' She gestured to his injuries, and Pitch didn't complain, slouching into the bed tiredly. Tooth immediately got to work on pulling out the cloth and getting the bottle of cleansing fluid, and putting a few drops of the stuff on the cloth.

''I won't lie, this will hurt.'' She warned him and moved to his side, where she slowly started to dab the cloth at the large gash across his abdomen, cringing when she saw him wince and suck in a sharp breath.

''That _stings_!'' Pitch hissed at her, grabbing her wrist to stop her from doing it again. Tooth flinched, and then narrowed her eyes at him.

''It's either this or it gets infected, which will sting _much_ _more_ than this.'' She warned, and saw him hesitate before he let go of her arm again and set his jaw in annoyance. ''Oh, stop it, you big baby.''

''_**Excuse**_ _**me**_?'' He snarled, but was cut off by Tooth starting to clean the wound again, and he made a noise similar to a mouse as the cloth made contact with his skin. He went to stop her again, but then decided better against it. The last thing he wanted was to get on her bad side. Soon, she pulled away again.

''See? It wasn't that bad.'' She teased, still trying not to laugh at the positively adorable noise he'd made when she'd started cleaning the wound again. He simply pouted in response, and she shook her head fondly as she got the bandages.

Pitch saw what she was doing, and slowly sat himself up to make it easier for her to wrap the bandages around his waist. She smiled her thanks, and awkwardly leant down to wrap them around the wound and his waist, her face so close to his chest that she could feel the warmth that radiated off of him, and could have sworn she could hear his heartbeat too. She wasn't quite sure how long she had stayed there, with her head pressed against his warm and muscled chest…

''Tooth? Are you alright?'' Came Pitch's voice, who looked down at her oddly, feeling a little uncomfortable. Not that he hadn't been this close to women before whilst half naked, but this was a completely different situation and person.

''Hmm? Yeah…'' She mumbled, before her eyes widened with realisation and she moved away quickly. ''I mean, yes! Fine!'' She knew she was blushing, but did her best to hide it.

''Oh, good.'' Pitch said, leaning back again and passing it off as nothing. Tooth mentally scolded herself as she went back over to the small pile of supplies and set the remaining roll of bandages down, getting the cloth again and rinsing it in the cold water. She sat down beside him on the bed and gently pressed the cold cloth against the nasty bruise on his neck. At first, Pitch went to move away, but then relaxed as the burning/aching feeling that was originally there faded away.

''How's that?'' Tooth asked quietly, noticing him relax.

''Mm, good…'' He mumbled, his eyes were closed and he looked a lot less tense now. She smiled slightly, and repeated the action on a few of the bigger bruises and cuts on his body, cooling his temperature and taking some of the pain away at the same time.

She rinsed the cloth again and folded it, before pressing it against his forehead, and he let out a sort of blissful sigh. She kept it pressed there for a good ten minutes, before noticing him trying to stifle a yawn.

''Are you tired? Do you want to sleep?'' Tooth whispered, not wanting to disturb him. Slowly he nodded, and she smiled, removing the cloth from his forehead and moving all her things from the bed and onto the table beside it. She was about to get off the bed herself when she felt a hand grab her wrist gently, and she quickly turned to look at the man lying beside her, who had his eyes cracked open a little.

''Will you… Will you stay with me?'' He asked, quietly, much to her surprise. Her eyes widened slightly and she frowned at him in confusion. ''I don't want to be… _Alone_.''

Her confused expression became one of sadness and pity, and she nodded in understanding. ''Of course, I'll stay with you. You don't need to be afraid, they can't hurt you here.'' She smiled, brushing his hair from his face reassuringly, to which he closed his eyes again.

''Thank you.'' He whispered, and Tooth smiled before lying herself down beside him, her hand brushing against his as his fingers twitched.

''Oh, sorry.'' She giggled, and looked up to see him _smiling_, drowsily, with his eyes still closed but definitely smiling.

''It's fine, I don't mind.'' He said, though his mind screamed differently.

Tooth felt her cheeks warm up into a blush, and she hesitantly intertwined her fingers with his own, and felt him give her hand a small squeeze, and when she looked up again, he was fast asleep. His mouth was slightly open and his chest rose and fell again at a relaxed pace. Her smile warmed up a little, wondering what had gotten into him and why he was suddenly being like this. It was completely different behaviour compared to an hour ago. Compared to the sarcastic and surly attitude.

She watched him sleeping for a while, seeing the vulnerability in his expression which he'd never shown before, and she liked it much more than the stern and uncaring Pitch she had come to know.

_Hopefully, it will stay this way._

And then she was sleeping.

**~ Thank you for reading! ~**

**As I said, this was originally going to be a one-shot, but I like the storyline so much I was planning to do a few more chapters. One looking more at what happened to Pitch and some more Cavity ones, as I know there'll be mixed readers who like fluff/smut. **

**There is seriously not enough Cavity stories out there, there needs to be so much more. One of the main reasons I wrote this story was because of the unfortunate lack of Cavity FanFiction out there. **

**Please leave a favourite or a follow if you liked the story, if you have anything to comment on (anything you thought was bad, anything you thought was good, if you would like to see more etc.) then please do leave a review as the feedback helps me out a lot.**

**Also, apologies for my limited amount of vocabulary. I realise Pitch would have a much bigger field than what I use. **

**(I'm sorry it's so rubbish.)**


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